For impacts in our own operations, we assessed ESG impacts related to our assets, and core activities: hearing aid component assembly in Denmark, manufacturing of hearing aids in China and Malaysia, final assembly of hearing aids in regional operational centers, R&D and product testing, sales and external collaboration, and white-collar back-office functions for all GN divisions. We also considered secondary activities in support of these core activities. For our value chain impacts, we prioritized assessing six value chain industries on which GN’s business model depends which have heightened risk of adverse ESG impacts: mining, plastic and aluminum production, paper production, freight and business travel, electronics manufacturing, and e-waste treatment. For pollution, biodiversity, and water-related sub-topics, we used geographical impact and industry reports in our assessment. This enabled us to understand the material impacts of our own sites, the location of our suppliers and sub-suppliers across our value chain on the surrounding ecosystem and communities, as well as the degree to which we depend on the local ecosystem for our business model. This process led to several sub-topics in the area of pollution to be considered material to GN from an impact perspective, whereas all sub-topics related to biodiversity and water were considered not material from an impact perspective.